Apparatus for removing material from articles



Oct. 11, 1932. L. NORMANN 8 7 APPARATUS FOR REMOVING MATERIAL FROM ARTICLES Filed April 7, 1930 n 1111. will! Myra/0r Z 4 0/7774? Patented Oct. 11, 1932 uNrrsD STATES PATENT 'o LABS NORMANN, OF CI-IIGAGO, ILLINOIS, .ASSIGNOR T WESTERN INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF F F I C E ELEcTitro COMPANY,

NEW YORK APPARATUS FOR REMOVING MATERIAL FROM ARTICLES Application filed April 7,

This invention relates to apparatus for removing material from articles, and more particularly to apparatus for removing ends of conductors and excess solder from the ter- 15 minals of electricalapparatusa An object of the invention is the provision of a simple and efficient mechanism for processing electrical apparatus.

In accordance with one embodiment, the

invention contemplates the prow'sion of mechanism for removing the short ends of wires from the treminals of electrical apparatus to which the wires have been soldered wherein the terminals having the wire ends soldered thereto are immersed in a soldering bath and lifted therefrom to a predetermined height against theaction of a spring Whereupon the energy stored in the springs is effective and is aided by weights to move the ap- M para'tus rapidly into engagement with a sta tionary member to arrest the movement of the apparatus and throw the excess molten solder and the 'wire ends from the terminals.

Other objects will be more apparent from $5 the following detailed description, when consideredin connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein V V Fig. lis a top plan view of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 33-of Fig). 2. Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals have been employed to designate similar partsthroughout the various figures, numeral 10 designates a common base upon which is mounted a heating unit 11. A tank 12 of any desired formation is disposed in the heating unit 11 (Fig. 2), so that a fluid 13-, disposedin the tank may have its level substantial'lyflush with the upper surface of the heating unit. A vertically extending partition 14 disposed in the tank 12 and extending the full length there- 455? of is parallel with the front wall of the tank so as to provide a compartment 14 for a purpose hereinafter described.

An article supporting unit indicated genn erally at 16 consists of a U-shaped frame 17, the ends of which are pivotally mounted at 1930. Serial No. 442,436.

18 upon vertically extending supporting brackets 19 which are rigidly mounted upon the base 10' at spaced positions. The arm portions of the frame 17 have cam blocks'21- mounted thereupon at positions equally spaced from the ends thereof. The arm portions also have weights 22 and hammers or striking members 23 disposed thereupon at equally spaced positions from the-cam blocks 21. The bar or connecting portionofthe frame 17 has article supporting members 24 slidably and adjustably mounted thereupon and arranged to be held inv predetermined".

positions by springvactuated locking pins 25 which are receivable in any of a plurality of aligned apertures 26 in the bar or connect-t ing member of the frame. The article. sup

porting members 24 consist ofdownwardly shown in this formof the apparatus is a;

' terminal block 33having a plurality of terminals 34 carried by the/central plate thereof.

Resilient, or spring members 35 have their upper ends fixed to the outer portions of the bar or connecting portion of the frame 17,.

while their lower ends are fixed to lugs mounted u'pon'th'e base 10.

An actuating unit indicatedgenerally a 36 consists of vertically extending, fork;

shaped bearing members 37 and'38 for rotatably supporting a horizontally disposedcam shaft 39. Frame actuating cams 40 are rigidly mounted upon the shaft 39; and dis: posed between theforked ends of each of the bearing members 37 and 38. A hearing bracket 42 is mounted upon the bearing member 37 for rotatably receiving the adjacent end of the shaft 39 upon which is mounted a a hand lever 43.

- The innermost forked portions of the bear-' ing members 3-7 and 38 are arranged to support movable anvils or abutting members 4.4. A dovetail connection is preferably provided between the anvils and the innermost forked portions of the bearing members.

Arms 45 which extend downwardly and in wardly are integral, with the anvils 44 and are provided with cam rollers 46 adjacent the outer ends thereof which are receivable in grooves 47 of anvil actuatingcams 48.

The cams 48 are disposed concentric with the shaft 39 and fixed thereto at positions cent the anvils 44.

In preparing the apparatus for operation,

1 the fluid 13'wl1ich' is preferably a'soldering bath, is heated to a predetermined tempera ture by the heating unit 11. The article or terminal block 33 is disposed in place so that the horizontal portion thereof will rest upon the flanges 28 of the article supporting mem bers 24 and the vertical portion thereof disposed in general alignment with the com partment 15 of the tank 12. While in this position (Fig. 2), the shaft 39is rotated in a counterclockwisedirection by the aid of i the crank 43, thus allowing the cam blocks 21 to ride upon lowering surfaces 50 of the cams 40 so as to allow the frame 17 to move about its pivots 18 and move the article supporting members 24 together .Vltll the article 33 downwardly. At the extremity of the downward movement of the frame 17 the ver- O tical portion of the article extends into the,

compartment 15, while the lower portions of the terminals 34 are immersed in the fluid or soldering bath 13.

A The lowerportions of the terminals 34 are held in the bath for a predetermined period of time during the positioning of the surfaces 51 in engagementwith the cam blocks 22. While in this position the solder up on the." terminals will be liquefied, thus loosening the wire ends from the terminals. T As the cam blocks 21 ride upon lifting-surfaces 52 of the cams 40, the frame 17 together with the members carried thereby will again be raised upwardlyto'a predetermined position. At thisposition the anvils or abutting members 44 are moved outwardly through the actuation 1 of the cams 48 and their engagement with the pins'46 so asto position the anvils beneath the hammers 23. When the liftingsurfaces 52 of the cams 40 are moved free of the cam blocks 21, theframe,together with the members carried thereby, will be drawn clownwardly, about the pivots 18, by the springs 33 aided by the weights 22 so that the hammers 23 will be rapidly moved into abutting engagement with the anvils 44, and held against rebounding by the weights, thus arring the liquefied solder together with the wire portions free of the lower terminals and'into'the fluid or soldering bath. To assure an efiicient operation, the rotation of the shaft is stopped immediately after the cam blocks 21 are released by the cams 40, allowing the cam blocks todrop into the cutaway portions of the'cams. Theter-minal -blocl; 33 may then be removed and again positioned between the article.

supporting members 24 so that the other ends of the terminals 34 may be treated to remove the solder and wire portions therefrom.

During this operation, the vertical portion of the terminal block 33 extends into the compartment 15 free of the soldering bath, while the lowermost terminals areimmersed in the bath, held a predetermined period of time, so as to liquefy thesolder thereupon, and raised to a position above the'bath. During the raising of the terminal bloclr'33 above the bath, the anvils are moved outwardly into general alignment with th eihammers so as to abruptly stop the downward movement of the terminal block, when the frame 17 is released by the cams 40,'andjar the solder and wire portions therefrom. By jarring. the solder from the termlnals in this manner, the solder which was origlnally upon the terminals will the shaft may be rotated continuously,.allowing theframe to rest in its movement so as to allow the solid solder upon the terminals to liquefy, to allow the removal of the terminal block 33 and the insertion of another terminal block. r 7 Although this invention has been described in connection with an apparatus for reconditioning terminal blocks of'an illustrated constructiomit is to be understood that the invention is capable of many other applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. What is claimed is: r

1. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a bath for liquefying a portion of the material, means .for movingthe article into and out of said bath, and means whereby the material remainng upon the article'may be jarred free thereof.

2. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a supporting memberfor receivin'gan' article, means for loosening the material upon said'article, means for moving said article supporting member whereby the article may be movedinto association with said material loosening means, and means associated with said article moving means for imparting a jarring movement to'said article whereby'the material may be thrown free 7 thereof. V

3. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a bath, an artlcle supporting member, means for moving said article supporting member whereby the article may be immersed in said bath, for removing the article from said bath and for releasing said article supporting means whereby said article supporting means and the article may be moved in one direction, and means for stopping the movement of said article supporting means and the article whereby the material may be thrown free of the article.

4. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a frame, means for pivotally supporting said frame, means movably carried by said frame for supporting articles of various sizes, a bath, means disposed in operative relation with said frame for imparting movement thereto whereby the article may be moved into said bath, moved free of said bath and for freeing said frame whereby it may be moved toward said bath, and abutting means adapted to stop the movement of said frame at a predetermined position.

5. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a pivotal frame, means for supporting an article carried by said frame, means for liquefying material on the article, means for moving the frame for moving the article into and out of association with said 7 material liquefying means, a hammer member carried by said pivotal frame, and an abutting member adapted to be moved into general alignment with said hammer memher, said frame moving means being arranged to free said frame whereby the frame may be moved for moving the hammer member into abutting engagement with said abutting member for jarring the material from the article.

6. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a support for the article, a bath for liquefying the material upon the article, and means for thereafter subjecting the support to a sudden impact for jarring the material free of the article.

7 In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a frame, means carried by said frame for supporting the article, a bath, means whereby said frame may be moved for moving the article into said bath, for moving the article out of said bath and for releasing said frame, a stop member, and means for moving said stop member free of the path of said frame during the movement thereof to move the article into said bath and for moving said stop member into the path of said frame after the article has been removed from said bath for stopping the movement of said frame when released.-

8. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a frame, means carried by said frame for supporting thearticle, a bath, means whereby said frame may be moved for moving the article into said bath, for moving the article out of said bath and for releasing sa d frame, a stop member, means for movin sald stop member free of the pathof said frame during the movement thereof to move 7 1 for stopping the movement of said frame when released, and means for urging the frame into abutting engagement with said stop member. 7

' 9. In an apparatus for removing wires from terminals which'are soldered thereto,'a support for the terminals, means for liquefying thesolder, and means for thereafter subjecting the support to a sudden impact for jarring the liquefied solder and wires from the terminals. i

10. In an apparatus for removing material from an article, a bath, a frame for'supporting'an article, means whereby the frame may be moved for moving the article into and out of said bath, and means for jarring said ffame for freeing the material from the artic e.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 28th day of Mar. A. D., 1930.

V LABS NORMANN; 

